I promised that I’d photoshop* this photo and add effects to the plastic lightsabres we were holding.  It took me a couple of months to get around to it and about an hour to complete.  Once I’d finished I pushed it out on to twitter as a bit of a joke.

I got a tweet back from @SharonHarper

and followed the link.  It led to a TED video of Gever Tulley (@gever).  You can watch it below.

I did all these things as a kid (and more-see number 2 of my 7 Things), though my copyright infringments were limited by the technology of the time; the cassette recorder and the transistor radio.

How many of you did the things that Gever Tulley talks about?  What about your children? What about your class?  I know I was shocked to find that my son had been using a power drill and handsaw to make a “video camera” while he was in kindergarten.  Are we too protective of our children and students?  If so… what changed and when?

Another Gever Tulley TED Talk including a rollercoaster created by 7 year olds.

*I don’t actually have photoshop, but “paint.netted” doesn’t roll of the tongue in quite the same way.